Lucian of Samosata, Alexander, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 48

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[48] Of all his bold emprises, however, let me tell you one, the greatest. Since he had no slight influence in the palace and at court through the favour which Rutilianus enjoyed, he published an oracle at the height of the war in Germany, when the late Emperor Marcus himself had at last come to grips with the Marcomanni and Quadi. The oracle recommended that two lions be cast into the Danube alive, together with a quantity of perfumes and magnificent offerings. But it will be better to repeat the oracle itself.

Into the pools of the Ister, the stream that from Zeus taketh issue,

Hurl, I command you, a pair of Cybele’s faithful attendants,

Beasts that dwell on the mountains, and all that the Indian climate

Yieldeth of flower and herb that is fragrant; amain there shall follow

Victory and great glory, and welcome peace in their footsteps.

But when all this had been done as he had directed, the lions swam across to the enemy territory and the barbarians slaughtered them with clubs, thinking them some kind of foreign dogs or wolves; and “amain” that tremendous disaster befel our side, in which a matter of twenty thousand were wiped [out ata blow. Then came what happened at Aquileia, and that city’s narrow escape from capture. To meet this issue, Alexander was flat enough to adduce the Delphian defence in the matter of the oracle given to Croesus, that the God had indeed foretold victory, but had not indicated whether it would go to the Romans or to the enemy.¹

Alexander. Lucian of Samosata. Austin Morris Harmon (Translator). United States. Perseus 5.0.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Alexander the False Prophet (English) (Lucian, Vol. 4. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Ἀλέξανδρος ἢ Ψευδόμαντις Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 4. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925 (printing).) — 48 focus

[48] ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἕν τι καὶ μέγιστον τόλμημα τοῦ μιαροῦ ἀνδρὸς ἄκουσον. ἔχων γὰρ οὐ μικρὰν ἐπίβασιν ἐπὶ τὰ βασίλεια καὶ τὴν αὐλὴν τὸν Ῥουτιλιανὸν εὐδοκιμοῦντα, διαπέμπεται χρησμὸν τοῦ ἐν Γερμανίᾳ πολέμου ἀκμάζοντος, ὅτε θεὸς Μάρκος ἤδη τοῖς Μαρκομάνοις καὶ Κουάδοις συνεπλέκετο. ἠξίου δὲ ὁ χρησμὸς δύο λέοντας ἐμβληθῆναι ζῶντας εἰς τὸν Ἴστρον μετὰ πολλῶν ἀρωμάτων καὶ θυσιῶν μεγαλοπρεπῶν. ἄμεινον δὲ αὐτὸν εἰπεῖν τὸν χρησμόν·

Ἐς δίνας Ἴστροιο διιπετέος ποταμοῖο

ἐσβαλέειν κέλομαι δοιοὺς Κυβέλης θεράποντας,

θῆρας ὀριτρεφέας, καὶ ὅσα τρέφει Ἰνδικὸς ἀὴρ

ἄνθεα καὶ βοτάνας εὐώδεας· αὐτίκα δʼ ἔσται

νίκη καὶ μέγα κῦδος ἅμʼ εἰρήνῃ ἐρατεινῇ.

γενομένων δὲ τούτων ὡς προσέταξεν, τοὺς μὲν λέοντας ἐκνηξαμένους εἰς τὴν πολεμίαν οἱ βάρβαροι ξύλοις κατειργάσαντο ὥς τινας κύνας ἢ λύκους ξενικούς· αὐτίκα δὲ τὸ μέγιστον τραῦμα τοῖς ἡμετέροις ἐγένετο, δισμυρίων που σχεδὸν ἀθρόων¹ ἀπολομένων. εἶτα ἐπηκολούθησε τὰ περὶ Ἀκυληΐαν γενόμενα καὶ ἡ παρὰ μικρὸν τῆς πόλεως ἐκείνης ἅλωσις. ὁ δὲ πρὸς τὸ ἀποβεβηκὸς τὴν Δελφικὴν ἐκείνην ἀπολογίαν καὶ τὸν τοῦ Κροίσου χρησμὸν ψυχρῶς παρῆγεν· νίκην μὲν γὰρ προειπεῖν τὸν θεόν, μὴ μέντοι δηλῶσαι Ῥωμαίων ἢ τῶν πολεμίων.

Translations (1)

Alexander the Oracle-monger Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 2. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 48 focus

[48] Perhaps the greatest example of our rogue’s audacity is what I now come to. Having easy access to Palace and Court by Rutilianus’s influence, he sent an oracle just at the crisis of the German war, when M. Aurelius was on the point of engaging the Marcomanni and Quadi. The oracle required that two lions should be flung alive into the Danube, with quantities of sacred herbs and magnificent sacrifices. I had better give the words:

To rolling Ister, swoln with Heaven’s rain,

Of Cybelean thralls, those mountain beasts,

Fling ye a pair; therewith all flowers and herbs

Of savour sweet that Indian air doth breed.

Hence victory, and fame, and lovely peace.

These directions were precisely followed; the lions swam across to the enemy’s bank, where they were clubbed to death by the barbarians, who took them for dogs or a new kind of wolves; and our forces immediately after met with a severe defeat, losing some twenty thousand men in one engagement. This was followed by the Aquileian incident, in the course of which that city was nearly lost. In view of these results, Alexander warmed up that stale Delphian defence of the Croesus oracle: the God had foretold a victory, forsooth, but had not stated whether Romans or barbarians should have it.

Notes on the current edition

Alexander

The invading tribes flooded Rhaetia, Noricum, upper and lower Pannonia, and Dacia, taking a vast number of Roman settlers prisoner, and even entered Italy, capturing and destroying Oderzo. Details are uncertain; so is the exact date, which was probably between 167 and 169. On the column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, one of the scenes depicts two animals swimming across a river, near a boat. These have been thought to be the lions of the oracle, and indeed they look like lions in the representation of Bartoli (Pi. XIII). But Petersen takes them to be bisons. It is clear, too, from Lucian that Alexander’s oracle was given before the campaign depicted on the column.

Lucian of Samosata Alexander 48

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

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